Apple Will Not Confirm or Deny Malware Infection

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[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]Good! Maybe that will end the commmon BS belief that "there're no viruses on Mac".[/citation]

This thing is NOT a virus. It's just an installer package that's automatically downloaded. It requires the user to do 2-3clicks and actually TYPE IN HIS PASSWORD before it installs.
Whoever is that stupid deserves it.
 
This isn't a virus, folks. It's a trojan. Macs have had trojans for years. The difference is that the user must actually enter a password and authorize MacDefender to run. Infection is entirely preventable if you don't go installing random software from random sites. To date, no virus exists for OS X or Linux that can install itself onto a system without user authorization. This is not the case for Windows.
 
[citation][nom]therandomuser[/nom]Welcome to the real world Mac peeps, where viruses and any type of bad -ware you can think of are rampant. You will receive your brochure on "How to live with Mass Attacks" and its companion book, "Mac V PC: The Real Truth"[/citation]

Indeed, it was to be expected. Just hope the green fruit take their responsibility and acknowledge their os is not impervious to attacks (if they now dare due to the commercials). I hope for the users sake they won't have to pay the price for the negligence of the company.

Once the attention that a system is easy hackable or its user base is easy duped into installing malware - The attacks will NEVER end and it would seem the average mac user/fanboi still seem to think it can't happen so generally ill equipped to handle it!

 
I can understand Apple's point of not wanting to be responsible for all malware that gets installed on their computers, but at the same time, they sell computers that "just work", and then when they stop working, they tell the customer to fend for themselves. Usually customer service is what brings people to a company. From what I've heard over the past years, Apple has NO customer service. Whenever a serious problem rears its head, Apple hides it under a rug until the PR team can move in to damage control (outright denial, deleting of forum threads, etc...). Seriously, WHAT is the appeal of Apple to these customers? Has anyone ever gone to a genius who could actually solve a problem without resetting to factory settings or returning for a replacement?

Of course, Apple's solution will be to lock-down their system even tighter. Mark my words, OSX will eventually use the same app-deployment system as iOS. Applications will only be installable if signed by Apple and/or purchased directly from their App store. Apple just keeps getting richer because people just keep buying their crap.
 
Apples have less viruses because they eliminate the ability to do 90% of what high tech people do. But at the same time, they take away almost nothing that a novice or photoshopper will want to do.
 
[citation][nom]molo9000[/nom]This thing is NOT a virus. It's just an installer package that's automatically downloaded. It requires the user to do 2-3clicks and actually TYPE IN HIS PASSWORD before it installs.Whoever is that stupid deserves it.[/citation]

Apparently lots of Mac users are stupid.... lots.
 
The problem is here is that the majority of Apple are, for a lack of a better word, oblivious users, who bought on to the Apple fan train because someone told them that they couldn't be infected with viruses and dont' want to have to worry about anything and want to click with impunity. They don't want to have to use any intelligence when surfing the net or using their computer.

The majority of them cannnot tell the difference between an apple and an orange. The prime example I have is when a client brought her mac book in wondering why she kept getting told she had a virus and that she kept trying to fix it. I took her mac book and looked into the issue to find out that she was getting a popup for WinAntivirus2010.exe. She had downloaded it 19 seperate times into her documents folder. 19 times!!!!!. It didn't click to her that 1. A Windows My computer screen popped up doing a fake scan. 2. Her mac didn't even have an antivirus 3. That this was an obvious scam 4. That you cant run an exe file on a mac. Most of the mac users fall under this category. Don't get me wrong I know some brilliant graphics and music artists that use macs for a particular purpose and they know how to run their machines but I find they are the exception not the rule.

This problem is only going to grow exponentially as Macs have very little or no 3rd party support. If a PC gets a virus I can download an array of tools and have the problem fixed within a hour. With a mac there is little or no support for the problem and the majority of mac users do not have virus protection of any sort.

Mac/Apple brought this on themselves for years with their constant proclamations that they were invulnerable to attack. Much the same way sony did to the hacker commmunity and we can see where it got them . Now that macs have a decent amount of popularity we are going to see it get torn apart by hackers who are going to have a hayday with it's unprotected userbase.
 
This isn't a virus, folks. It's a trojan. Macs have had trojans for years. The difference is that the user must actually enter a password and authorize MacDefender to run. Infection is entirely preventable if you don't go installing random software from random sites. To date, no virus exists for OS X or Linux that can install itself onto a system without user authorization. This is not the case for Windows.
Click to expand...

False. I've personally made two [just screwing around] in my spare time. Macs are nowhere near secure, hence why it gets cracked open at every white/grey/black hat confrence within seconds.
 
[citation][nom]bak0n[/nom]Apples have less viruses because they eliminate the ability to do 90% of what high tech people do. But at the same time, they take away almost nothing that a novice or photoshopper will want to do.[/citation]
Name one thing Apple doesn't allow the user to do that "high tech people" do.
 
Apple should remove this and it should be free for them to do it. Apple has a long time provided pseudo-security through marketing when in reality the security came from market share. Mac hater or not the bottom line is that small percentages of a market cause small reactions.

Apple is the Honda of computers: Honda has a high resale, readily available and low security (simple ignition locks).

Apple has a high resale value, (newly?) readily available and low security (proven time and time again in tests).

Even if Apple didn't say their computers are secure they certainly have allowed that to be the general consensus of it.

I, for one, am happy that Apple has gained market share. Now those who condemn me for not buying Apple can see for themselves why.


 
[citation][nom]datawrecker[/nom]Apparently lots of Mac users are stupid.... lots.[/citation]

if they were smart, they would never got a Mac in the first place. Agreed?
 
[citation][nom]awood28211[/nom]Apple should remove this and it should be free for them to do it. Apple has a long time provided pseudo-security through marketing when in reality the security came from market share. Mac hater or not the bottom line is that small percentages of a market cause small reactions. Apple is the Honda of computers: Honda has a high resale, readily available and low security (simple ignition locks).Apple has a high resale value, (newly?) readily available and low security (proven time and time again in tests).Even if Apple didn't say their computers are secure they certainly have allowed that to be the general consensus of it.I, for one, am happy that Apple has gained market share. Now those who condemn me for not buying Apple can see for themselves why.[/citation]

I can pick any ignition lock from any manufacture in the matter of minutes. and no I'm not a lock smith, you just need to know how lock and the tool works. so what's your point ? b4 u say it, I don't own a Honda.
 
Social engineering is real. It is not OS specific. The way to fight it is vigilance and education. Apple has been lacking on education, but one could argue it isn't their responsibility.

However, Apple is misleading their customers.

Just because you live in 2011, doesn't mean you have to be tech savvy. Not everyone has the same set of goals in life, namely to be an IT savvy guru.


Or should they?
 
This isn't surprising this is Apple we are talking about. They have done worse in-fact I re-call one of their Macs a few years back had a common problem with the monitors. Naturally people went to the forums to express they are having the problem both to hopefully find a solution and to alert Apple of the problem. Apple's response? Delete all mention of the occurrence and ban any who dares speak of it again or complains about Apple's action.
 
When the Time Warner cable guys came to install cable in my new apartment, one of the gentlemen kept talking about how much better built Mac's are than PC's and that was the reason they don't get virus's.
 
"....as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced...."
 
[citation][nom]randomizer[/nom]Has Microsoft, Dell or HP ever "officially" helped a customer remove a virus? Do you ask Western Digital or Seagate for help in removing the nasties on the hard drive that they sold you? This is outside of the scope of vendor support. End user tech support is meant to deal with this (you know, Geek Squad). Apple's response to this malware is simply in line with their support policy, which in this case is much the same as any other vendor's policy.[/citation]

I can say YES. Microsoft has fixed situations caused my virus/malware/trojans...because many times those nasties cause problems that first need to be identified as being caused by such problems. Then they suggest using an anti-virus program and even provide one free of charge. In fact Microsoft is one of the companies at the FOREFRONT of fighting such attacks from viruses, BOTs, WORMS, SPAM etc. What does Apple do?...Hide the fact thier systems are just as vulnerable...in some case more so due to ingnorance of their users.
 
[citation][nom]smfrazz[/nom]I can say YES. Microsoft has fixed situations caused my virus/malware/trojans...because many times those nasties cause problems that first need to be identified as being caused by such problems. Then they suggest using an anti-virus program and even provide one free of charge. In fact Microsoft is one of the companies at the FOREFRONT of fighting such attacks from viruses, BOTs, WORMS, SPAM etc. What does Apple do?...Hide the fact thier systems are just as vulnerable...in some case more so due to ingnorance of their users.[/citation]
It took them a while to get to this point. For years, MS wouldn't even ask for your name before it could verify that you have a valid credit card. Now, they are helping customers... Apple may take a while before they become a customer oriented...
 
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